Who can be a councillor?

If you care about the area that you live or work in and the issues facing local people, you could be a councillor.

There are no formal qualifications required to become a councillor.

All councillors need to be:

  • be at least 18 years old and an Australian citizen
  • live or own property in the council’s area
  • be on the electoral roll for the council’s area
  • not be disqualified from standing for office,

There are some disqualifications set out in the Local Government Act 1993. For example, you can’t stand for office if you:

  • are in prison, a State MP (unless they resign from Parliament before the first council meeting), a judge or a council employee
  • have been convicted of a serious indictable offence (something that carries a prison sentence of five years or more)
  • have been convicted of property offences (such as break-and-enter or stealing, in the past five years)

You are also prevented from standing for office if you have been convicted of electoral fraud or corruption, or if you are prohibited from managing companies.